Green Sunfish

The green sunfish is blue-green in color on its back and sides with yellow-flecked bony-ridged (ctenoid) scales, as well as yellow coloration on the ventral sides. The gill covers and sides of head have broken bright blue stripes, causing some to mistakenly confuse them with bluegill. They also have a dark spot located near the back end of the dorsal fin, the base of the anal fin and on the opercular flap. The margins of the soft-rayed portion of the dorsal fin, the caudal fin, the ventral fins and the anal fin are orange or yellow, most pronounced in individuals during breeding periods. L. cyanellus has a relatively big mouth and long snout that extends to beneath the middle of the eye. Its pectoral fins are short with rounded edges containing 13 to 15 pectoral fin rays, a dorsal fin with about 10 dorsal spines followed by 10 to 12 rays and a homocercal tail.

The green sunfish is native to a wide area of North America, from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Appalachian Mountains in the east and from the Hudson Bay basin in Canada to the Gulf Coast in the United States and northern Mexico. They are specifically indigenous to a number of lakes and rivers, such as the Great Lakes and some of the basins of the Mississippi River.

Its diet can include aquatic insects and larvae, insects that fall into the water, crayfish, snails, other molluscs, turtle food, frogs, some small fish, fish eggs, bryozoans, zooplankton, other small invertebrates, and sometimes plant material. They are omnivores.

Green sunfish begin spawning in the summer with the exact time varying with location and water temperature. When they do spawn, the males create nests in shallow water by clearing depressions in the bottom, often near a type of shelter such as rocks or submerged logs. The male defends his nest from other males using visual displays and physical force when necessary. On occasion, simply constructing a nest is sufficient for the male to attract a mate, but when it is not he will court a female with grunts and lead her to his nest.